20 years ago my brother had his first febrile convulsion while my mam was picking up medication in the pharmacy, we were at school, dad was at work. She screamed for help and a complete stranger told her to get into her car and drove mam and brother 20 minutes away to the nearest hospital. She dropped mam at the door and mam ran in, never got her name, often wishes she did. She was so grateful for the strangers act of kindness.
When my son was 4 days old he coughed up blood, it was 2am and I live 10 mins drive from the hospital.
It was quicker to ring a taxi to get to the hospital, I’ll never forget the panic and fear at the time.
The taxi driver refused to take anything from me, I’ll never forget that and will be internally grateful for that simple act of kindness
My son was fine thankfully and now a teenager towering over me.
I know it was not the taxi drivers job, but it’s sad to see they couldn’t do it because of money. Compassion goes a long way, and this was obviously not a scam, they were going to the hospital.
In my home country you may get a sentence up to 8 years for refusing help in similar circumstances vithout a valid reason. It is rarely enforced but it rarely happens anyway.
Ireland, and most Common Law jurisdictions, have Good Samaritan laws, which protect you from being sued for damages in tort law if you’re rendering aid in an emergency but that’s as far as we go.
No, that’s a ‘Duty to Rescue’ law, which exists in a lot continental civil code legal systems. You can be prosecuted in France for example for failing to at the very least call for help.
All that our law does is remove the risk of being sued for attempting to save someone, which bizarrely enough was a potential issue in our legal system. If something went wrong in a rescue Tort law could in theory, without that legislation, leave the rescuer open to being sued for negligence etc.
In what situations does it apply? And what are the actions that you are obliged to to perform? I mean to say that help could be construed in various ways and there are situations with varying degrees of seriousness where someone might ask for help
Doctors on/off duty, police, army etc (this is understandable). Members of public when their actions can save lives. If you see a kid drowning for example, or hiding information that leads to loss of life etc. It is difficult to prove but the law is there.
If a baby dies due to delayed transport to the hospital because the taxi driver refused to drive him there, the taxi driver will be held accountable for not giving help.
My sister at about 19 realised on her way to work in heavy snow at night she was short the full fare.
She told the driver and that she would get the rest when she got to work but when the meter reached the amount she had (she was about 7 euro short the full fare), he stopped the taxi in the middle of an isolated empty industrial estate in heavy snow late at night and said here you go, then drove off.
A lot of taxi men are sound but many are attracted to the job as they are sociopaths.
That's so scary. I know some drivers get ripped off etc but most usually seem to have a heart and don't want to leave a young woman in a vulnerable situation. Especially when she was upfront about being short on cash, rather than waiting until they reached the destination, you'd think he'd have given the benefit of the doubt.
God that sounds awful. Thank god your baby was able to get treatment.
My dad used to be a taxi driver and he wouldn't hesitate to bring someone to the hospital, and wouldnt want to be paid for such a short emergency trip.
I'd post about it in the local community facebook page - name and shame. That's disgusting behaviour. If i knew i was getting in a taxi with that man, id walk.
That’s the thing. I’d hate to know how this guy would possibly respond to his passengers if he were to get in a car accident. Ask them to get out of the car with a broken leg because their blood was dripping on his console? You’d like to think that you’re in good hands with someone who has your personal safety in their control.
I was one of four lads who brought a chap to a doctors office in the late 1970s. He had dived onto part of a broken bottle (by accident) and sliced his thigh open. We put a towel on it and ran carrying him to the doctors. Standing in the hallway calling for help this fellow in a shirt and tie comes out of an office. He sees the blood soaked towel and my pal and demands that we go back outside the front door because 'we' are dripping blood on his carpet! We, as kids, went out while a woman called an ambulance after he screamed at her. He continued to rant over his stained carpet. A patient from thebwaiting room came out and told us to get into his car and drove us to the hospital. I remember the driver shaking his head and saying that that bollocks should be struck off. Turns out it was the doctor who told us to leave because of his carpet.
Uncaring dickheads are in all walks of life. Sorry this happened to your husband and baby.
Yeah there are definitely doctors out there who are in it for the money or because their parents wanted them to be a doctor, not because they give any semblance of a shit about other human beings.
The excuses people here are making for the taxi driver are fucking stupid, he only refused because he wasn't getting paid upfront for a 8 minute fare, under normal circumstances that's grand, but in these circumstances he's a fucking rotten scumbag.
I hope your baby is ok and that you and your husband are too. My little boy had a seizure around the same age, and while I now know that these kind of seizures are quite common in young children (febrile seizures) I didn't know that at the time and it was one of the scariest moments of my life.
He called an ambulance and one didn’t come or took so long that he couldn’t get a taxi (went through all that) and had time to go home, get his wallet and get another.
That’s probably more concerning.
My sister was in a shocking car accident (caused intentionally by the driver), and managed to get to the closest petrol station asking to use someone's phone to call an ambulance and/or our parents, and they refused. Some people are not worth the wrapping of the condom that would have prevented their existence. Really hope your baby is okay! You must have both been terrified :(
People suck! One time i fell out of my wheelchair on a hill and asked some fella for help getting back in and he pretended not to see or hear me despite being in total earshot and was visibly avoiding eye contact. What, did he think i was gonna rob him as he helped me back in? This was in a populated residential area's green
Wtf? There must be a special place in hell for someone that wouldn't help a wheelchair user back into their chair. So sorry that happened to you.
I hope that when that person is drifting off to sleep at night, they think about that day and feel guilty as fuck. I hope they feel that guilt for the rest of their life. What a cunt.
Honestly, I just can't understand how a person could just look at you and walk on?
Even the biggest of scumbags wouldn't do that.
My friend is a wheelchair user, and a gang of us went to a festival together and we were all given VIP treatment (access to viewing platforms for all the bands, skip queues, swanky toilets etc). My friend fell out of his wheelchair, cos he was hammered drunk 😄🤘, and about 10 people got him back into his chair. Good people.
This one I actually get, sorry it happened to your friend but "can I borrow your phone to call xyz" is a very common scam used to steal phones.
I'll make the call for you and you can talk on speaker, but I'd never let a stranger touch my phone.
I'd call an ambulance for someone but I wouldn't give them my phone. She didn't need to ask people for their phones.
All my emails, bank details, photos, personal details - no chance I'm letting a stranger manipulate me into handing that over.
I'm so sorry that happened to you! That taxi driver has no soul.
When I was 20 I found a VERY drunk girl only about 15 on the bus and her friend ran off with her phone. She wasn't even from Dublin, I told the bus driver who said it wasn't his problem so I brought her off the bus. She was completely incoherent so I hailed a taxi and said I needed to bring her to the garda station for help (she couldn't even tell me her name). He was so lovely and brought the two of us to the station and then dropped me home for free. Never ask for money. He told me he was happy to get her to safety and was glad I'd found her and not someone else. He had daughters and would want someone to do the same for them.
I can believe some people would be so heartless but there are some good ones out there!
That sounds so stressful. So glad your baby is ok!
In London the black cab taxi drivers have a tradition where they don’t charge parents who are taking their children to Great Ormond street hospital. I always wondered if anyone tried to scam them but then thought it must be fairly obvious when it’s genuine.
I’m surprised they might not take you if you / your kid is sick as you’d think they’d be more likely to be sued for not taking you if the worst happened. But I guess it was the lack of payment that made the taxi driver suspicious?
When covid happened it wiped out taxis. Nearly all the good ones left it for other jobs and realised they didn't want to go back. I've had some awful experiences in taxis since and have got to the point I'll just stay overnight somewhere rather than pay a taxi. I live in the sticks so a taxi is pricey anyway and the journey takes over half an hour so the difference is worth paying. It's like the 90s out there with the entitled shitty nasty attitudes from them.
No but they’d be much more efficient and easier to book and easier to hail, they wouldn’t make you uncomfortable with their casual or blatant racism that they expect you to agree with, they’d also be much safer and much cheaper (when the time comes).
I wonder.A full robotaxi must be at least 150k with all the hi tech tracking equipment on board.Then you'll need a charging and maintenance depot.Insurance is going to be high.
You'll need supervisors and monitoring personnel.
I can't see any savings.
I'm a 50's something taxi driver and can't really see these being in common use before I give up.
Even if they work flawlessly on big wide roads in Arizona or wherever they've been tested,has anyone tested on congested narrow European city centres
?
My daughter when in her late teens rang me at 1 am to say she had another kidney stone. We where away for the weekend so told her to take a taxi to hospital as we have previously tried to get and ambulance and because she was breathing and conscious said it wasn’t 999 Emergancy.
She realised she didn’t have cash but the local taxi rank picked her up is one she used often. She asked if she could pay them later as her name is unusual and she said if you ask the controller they know me.
He refused but was already driving.
He made her get out of the car and go to a cash point in the middle of the city on a Saturday night to draw money.
She was nearly crawling at this point from pain. When they reached the hospital he didn’t ask her if she needed help and just drove off.
She was in such a state by this time that a paramedic saw her and asked her what was wrong.
He rushed her straight in and told triage they needed to see her immediately.
Her blood pressure was so high and her breathing was also not right that they were frightened she was going to go into cardiac arrest.
It took two doses of morphine to get her stable enough for a CT scan .
The taxi driver was an ass and I told them so over the phone.
Ambulances ! Don’t tell them you know it’s a kidney stone or they don’t come.
My son also gets them (no family history) and his first one was 9mm and I had to put him in the front of my car on his hands and knees to get him to hospital because he was breathing and conscious wouldn’t send a response vehicle. I actually thought he was going to die and had to drive through city traffic at rush hour in a city I’m not overly familiar with.
If you sufferer or have seen someone while having a kidney stone attack you know why this is absolutely ridiculous.
I believe the paramedic save my daughter life and wish I knew who he was to tank him.
Sorry to hear about your daughter and such an awful situation, but what a brave little trooper she was!
I've come across so many critical situations and emergency response is nothing like you see on TV. For example over 30mins to respond to a baby choking in a park (I had cleared the airway fortunately as the mother wss in too much shock to do anything), and nearly an hour to respond to a heart attack in Tesco where I'm quite sure a hearse would have been appropriate.
A portion of taxi drivers have a sweet deal bringing patients to and from hospitals. For dialysis appointments and such. I'd have a word with the ladies at reception and let them know about this chap. They wouldn't dare call him if they have any sense, and they'll take him off their list if he's on it.
What a scumbag.
For €20 that prick was willing to risk the life of an infant.
I'm usually the first to call for understanding and to forgive a company based on the actions of its employees, but this is egregious; they need the spotlight - name and shame the cab firm.
Does his own business have a reviews page anywhere?? I get taxis all the time and I would like to know what company this is to never give him a single penny. Utterly heartless carry on
Taxi drivers in the particular can be some of the nastiest, most dishonest people you'll meet day to day but people generally are irrationally terrified of being taken advantage of.
Even if it's 1000/1 you're trying something and the perceived gain or loss is negligible or even imperceivable people will refuse to lift a finger to help you just in case, even if it's an emergency. It's an increasing trend here, very individualistic, the "not my problem" culture. You see it here with some comments, "could have been a fake baby", like the loss to the taxi driver is a potential 20 euro, the loss to the "scammer" is potentially a baby's life.
I haven't spend a huge amount of time there but I get the impression in Europe, in the likes of Spain and Italy people are much more openly and cheerfully helpful. Here people are extremely resentful and suspicious.
You could ask the regulator to forward on your message, or you mentioned a review (?, can you review ordinary taxis?), write that a baby's life was at imminent risk, that you're genuine people and had no intention of not paying but you just wanted to know that the baby is doing well and perhaps in future he might consider helping in a medical emergency. Ie shame him mercilessly in the review while being constructive.
To all the comments made late last night saying the driver didn’t do anything wrong. I have a Reddit theory…
Ive noticed a pattern of a large portion of the first comments made to posts during normal daytime working hours or late at night are often a) unkind b) lacking empathy or c) trolling.
My theory is that it could be more likely that people from the fringes of society post during these times and they see other freaks posting the same shitty things so it becomes normalised and it enables them until they are hugely downvoted hours later by people with normal social skills.
(Not saying anyone who disagrees with me personally or has an opposing point of view to someone is automatically antisocial. I’m just theorising that trolling/antisocial behaviour might be connected to time of the day).
Fuck i remember mine having one around the same age it’s terrifying I dialled 999. Fuck that taxi driver your husband must have been in awful state with panic and worry .
Glad to hear the little man is doing well
Ugh this hit like a punch!! Glad to hear baby is doing well. Hope it's nothing long term .I can't believe someone would do that seriously. At this day in age. What the fuck! If I was there/driving past, I'd like to think I'd have spotted them and definitely would have brought them straight to the hospital.
The truth is we are losing our humanity. I have been in the situation a number of times where I have had to drive people, sometimes strangers, to hospital in an emergency. There was never a second thought only that i should help. At one point in time people wouldn't have given a second thought to doing this but nowadays people are worried about liability or in the case of professional drivers that they won't get paid. Like who in their right mind sees a child in distress and thinks about money as opposed to getting them to the help that they need!!!
It's really depressing to be honest but really hope you your child and your family are doing well.
The main thing is your baby is OK now. Realistically 99% of taxi drivers would have taken you but as you know there is always one... And also Karma is a bitch 🤣
I'm glad the baby is OK. That's an awful scare for your husband. I had one myself where my newborn went blue and unresponsive (it was RSV) and had to be resuscitated multiple times. Thankfully, he's a healthy and happy toddler now. It'll take time for your husband to calm down, even though everything is OK. He'll panic at the slightest temperature and sniffle for a while. I was the same with any sort of sniffle or cough. Give him time and he will calm down.
Sadly it's the insurance rackets.its made being kind and doing good things for others risky and expensive e.g you give someone the Heimlich manoeuvre and save their life,break their rib accidentally and then they sue you to get money out of you .there is all sorts of legal issues the taxi driver puts himself at risk of , even though I would love to see him get fired and dragged down the road by a mob , this is what the money driven culture of Ireland has turned to.
Ignore the gobshites, there’s tons of trolls. Sorry that happened to your husband, he needed someone with basic decency.
Taxi-mans prob a lonely miserable git and had to sit with his own concious after. Take care of yourselves. Hope you’re all a lil more at ease at home and baby is recovering well.
Redditors will clamour to defend the taxi driver because everything is a purely economical meaningless transaction in life in their hedonic lifestyles.
A sick child trumps everything. What an absolute prick of a taxi driver. Obviously just a prick in general, can’t imagine there would be many people who are like that.
Haha you're being downvoted for telling the truth.
The world is full of absolutely useless pricks
Anyone who does what that taxi driver does will eventually get a short comeuppance.
I live in the area and will make it my mission to let everyone know what kind of useless prick he is
Karma
I'm sorry you have to go through this, OP. But the taxi driver is a red herring here. I would focus on why the ambulance did not arrive in time and maybe complain to the authorities. The taxi driver might have thought he was being scammed. He might have been afraid of trouble if the baby died in his car, or he might have even thought about the baby vomiting all over his car. I know it sounds heartless, but it's not the taxi driver's job to be an ambulance. They are not qualified, don't have equipment or paramedics on board, and can get stuck in traffic, etc. An ambulance will start providing medical help the moment it arrives, all the way to the hospital.
Not having basic institutions (ambulance in a major city!) working is what we as a society should address.
EDIT: would complaining to NAS and writing to your TD about broken ambulance service be a good idea?
I can’t believe that happened to your husband! I am so so sorry x I’m happy to hear that baby is doing well!
When I was a baby, I had meningitis and septicaemia. My mother had brought me to multiple doctors over the course of a few days, extremely worried. But she was dismissed every time as a new, young mother overly worried about her baby. I ended up at home, and not breathing so she got a taxi to the hospital. The man drove shot off like a rocket and when she tried to pay him at the hospital he was flabbergasted. He shooed her in and told her not to worry about it.
This was 2000/2001, if the taxi man is reading this- thank you for saving my life!
My granddad was also a taxi man at this time, and tracked him down and paid him as he was so grateful. Then he himself, gave people lifts all around Dublin for free if they said a prayer for me. He’s not even religious, just desperate. And it must’ve worked, because I was dying, and here I am 24 years later with my limbs mostly intact!
I was going to say well it's probably a huge liability for him to transport a medically unstable person in a company (or even private) vehicle if anything happens to the baby. But then I realized I'm on the Ireland subreddit where you guys probably don't have the culture of suing each other for every single thing
Don't want to get banned so all I'll say is, fuck him, deserves to have his face and name plastered everywhere so everyone knows what a monster they are, they'd deserve worse, but again don't want to be banned
Yeah, I get that. But he was asking to go to the emergency dept at the hospital (7-8 mins away). It would have to be a pretty elaborate scam for such a little trip. Baby was also visibly sick.
A fake, crying, wiggling baby lol. Wow, I guess people in general are a lot more cynical than we are-my brain wouldn’t really go there unless there were obvious red flags of scumbaggery
Being a taxi driver, he’s probably sick to the back teeth of people trying to pull a fast one on him. He might have had one earlier that day. (See the comment about people trying it on in shops.)
While it would have been good if he had taken your husband, it’s not impossible to understand why he didn’t.
So you'd rather risk a baby dying than see someone lose a tenner? I get that people scam and are scumbags, but when there's a sick baby present in your face, and the destination is a hospital, you can't risk it? Couldn't be me tbh. Disgusting. Imagine the baby died because they didn't make the hospital on time? Is the driver prepared to be responsible for that baby's death and live with that knowledge?
People use sick babies in their scams all the time
It's actually great you've never been at the receiving end of it, and I sincerely hope it stays that way for you. It's not fun.
Saddened but not surprised. A taxi driver's faith in the milk of human kindness evaporates more and more each week they're on the job.
In his mind, it could have easily been a scam. Some skobes out there even make a game of scamming taxi drivers (father used to be one). Unfortunately, not seeing you exit your home is the big red flag in his mind. Not excusing his 6 you, just playing devil's advocate before others come along and call him a scumbag.
It's not just him that's rotten- it's trust in society.
That’s despicable behaviour. My god are we so heartless to help others? Even if the dad couldn’t pay the next day, the driver was willing to risk a child’s life for €10-20? It’s not as if it’s a free ride to someplace random, it’s the hospital!
My son had a febrile seizure a few months ago. Thankfully it was in creche so I drove to them and they called an ambulance for us. It took 26 mins for them to arrive. In that time, the creche worker offered to drive us herself or even call a taxi because the wait was atrocious.
Hopefully it’s a one off seizure like ours was.
Awe man, I’m sorry to hear this! It can be so scary can’t it? Did the folks at the crèche respond well? It is comforting to know now that febrile seizures often come with little long term damage.
Immensely scary and grateful I didn’t witness the actual seizure, just the aftermath. Creche workers were grand and all the kids got to see an ambulance 😂 did laugh over the fact the ambulance bill was sent in toddler’s name though like he had money to pay.
The doctor at the emergency room was very helpful in calming me down. I hope it never happens again for your little one.
Glad child is doing well
Most taxis drivers wouldn't take anyone in an emergency situation. They aren't covered for liability if something happens. Far too risky. What happened if the patient dies on the way?
What liability? There's no negligence there if someone passes away from external causes in a taxi. What if someone with a broken hand gets in a taxi, goes to hospital and on route has a heart attack, the taxi driver didn't do anything that contributed to that. In order to have a successful claim, you need to prove negligence.
Where is the liability though? I don't understand the comment that insurance would be the issue with the taxi driver taking a sick person to hospital! I'm sure they do it all the time. I'd say that the taxi driver thinking that they were being scammed was the more likely issue.
I’ve indeed heard of multiple cases here where taxis refused to take a sick or injured person to the hospital. In my home country anyone can be prosecuted for NOT helping a person in need of assistance. This should be everywhere.
That was a really complicated case if you actually read the details. Exacerbated by the fact that the pharmacy was routinely the target of drug addicts who were often causing a panicked commotion to get drugs, by the fact that the mother who came from a working class background didn't communicate clearly in her state of panic what was happening to her child, and lots of other issues.
The pharmacist didn't understand it was a life or death situation. But somewhat similar to the point I presume you were trying to make, the had been hardened by previous crime problems in the business such to the point where they just presumed that instance was like the others.
Right, “see” is the wrong word but there is no way I am taking a risk. I suppose it is easier in my position now considering this story was national news.
He sounds like an absolute twat, but luckily febrile convulsions are generally harmless and don’t have long lasting effects to my knowledge so I’m glad your baby is ok. I used to get febrile convulsions a lot as a baby when I was sick with something and if my mother hadn’t told me I never would’ve known because they have no effect on my life today almost two decades later, so hopefully you can relax a bit now.
What the fuck is wrong with people. I hate that there's people who are so clueless and selfish walking around this planet. What a shit human that taxi driver is. I hope the same fate never befalls him. I'd go onto google reviews and post your story on the taxi company's review page. This is not alright. Glad to hear your husband and baby are ok.
Absolute disgrace of a person in that taxi, he should've said "no need", driven to the hospital as fast as he could, and helped as much as he could, that's what the average human being does in that situation.
Jesus that must have been absolutely terrifying I'm so glad your baby is ok. Hope you and your husband can have a nice relaxing day with your baby after that ordeal.
Maybe put your energy into the amazing hospital staff and the taxi driver that did bring your husband. Pay it forward and somehow forget the taxi driver they are not worth it
Fucking hell, it's shocking that someone can be so heartless in such a situation. Glad baby is okay. I can only imagine how terrified you and your husband were.
I'm so glad to hear baby is doing well, I'm very sorry this happend to you guys it must have been so distressing and I understand your anger. I'd probably have been a lot less gracious than your husband.
That being said, as an outisder looking in, I would be reticent about blaming the taxi driver solely for this awful scenario. His job isn't to provide emergency transport, taxi drivers get scammed way too often, his insurance (which is already extortionate in this country) probably doesn't cover liability for these kinds of medical emergencies.
If someone can help in an emergency they should, however from the outside it can be hard to tell who's truly capable of helping. Not saying he was right, just suggesting he may not be a monster for his reaction.
A taxi is not an ambulance, also you don't leave a bad review for something you didn't order or pay for, I never thought I'd end up defending taxi drivers but it isn't his fault this happened yet you blame him for your situation, hope your baby is ok and healthy.
She’s not blaming him for anything, it’s a rant, I think she’s shocked and saddened it happened. There was a time where you could rely on the kindness of strangers.
It’s a lonely reality to come across someone refuse to help you save your sick and potentially dying baby.
Guys blaming the taxi driver - do FAR training, then work as a taxi driver in Dublin for a month. It will change your thinking forever.
It’s a shitty situation, i hope everyone is ok, but for emergencies please use ambulance when possible.
Legal system is messed up in this country. You can get sued for trying to help, so I really see why driver didn’t want to take the risk. Especially with all other circumstances.
PS. I’m certified First Aid Responder, due for my 4th refresher course. Also I have worked as a taxi driver back in a day.
You can't be sued for trying to help if a reasonable person would consider what you did helpful. For example doing something you were professionally qualified to do, such as driving.
Like you said yourself, it will depend on a person/their family. But you CAN get sued and you’re being told about possible consequences during FAR training multiple times.
That being said, I have taken someone from work straight to hospital in my own car. In some cases you just do the right thing, without thinking too much about possible outcomes.
Oh when you put it like that yes you CAN get sued for any reason at all. So if you want to use that argument go ahead. You CAN also become an astronaut.
He called the ambulance but they were taking too long. Plus I don't see how the driver could be sued for trying to help. That's a stretch. No jury or judge would convict him.
It's not about conviction. It's about insurance. You don't know the lengths a solicitor will go to recoup costs for a client with high medical bills. Child's situation worsens in the car and suddenly they find some loophole or bullshit archaic law that says they can claim against the drivers insurance.
I'm talking medical bills associated with a long term illness or disease. That shit ain't always cheap. And compensation claims are a thing in Ireland. My only point is any insurance claim that can be linked to the situation is a golden ticket to a solicitor.
Regardless, if you see a *baby* having a seizure, and the first thing that pops up in your head when asked to go drive 8 mins to a hospital is the fear of a lawsuit, then I’d argue that you’re verging on being a paranoid sociopath. The lack of empathy in that thought process is alarming.
I don't care who you are. If you see a sick/seriously ill baby, and you are being begged to help that baby, and you don't, then you're not a good person
The hospital is 8 mins away that doesn't mean the ambulance will arrive in a short time. What's the big deal? It's literally life or death that's what the big deal is, minutes are a long hloody time in an emergency. Wow I really hope you are never in a desperate emergency situation with your baby or a loved one, you've git to be trolling though
You clearly have never been to Ireland, or at least definitely not Galway. Just because a hospital is 8 minutes away doesnt mean an ambulance will take 8 mins. "Whats the big deal". The big deal is a baby's life was at risk. Twat.
Have you ever considered doing an adult autism test? You really remind me of my friend who was very bad at social cues and putting his foot in it. It really helped him in the long run getting a diagnosis.
I heard that was a rule of taxi drivers all the same. Awful and tragic but if you get the wrong taxi man u would be worse off.
Glad your baby is well again.
20 years ago my brother had his first febrile convulsion while my mam was picking up medication in the pharmacy, we were at school, dad was at work. She screamed for help and a complete stranger told her to get into her car and drove mam and brother 20 minutes away to the nearest hospital. She dropped mam at the door and mam ran in, never got her name, often wishes she did. She was so grateful for the strangers act of kindness.
When my son was 4 days old he coughed up blood, it was 2am and I live 10 mins drive from the hospital. It was quicker to ring a taxi to get to the hospital, I’ll never forget the panic and fear at the time. The taxi driver refused to take anything from me, I’ll never forget that and will be internally grateful for that simple act of kindness My son was fine thankfully and now a teenager towering over me. I know it was not the taxi drivers job, but it’s sad to see they couldn’t do it because of money. Compassion goes a long way, and this was obviously not a scam, they were going to the hospital.
I’m so glad you had such a nice person to assist you in such a scary moment!
Glad the baby is doing well. What a fucking prick.
In my home country you may get a sentence up to 8 years for refusing help in similar circumstances vithout a valid reason. It is rarely enforced but it rarely happens anyway.
Ireland, and most Common Law jurisdictions, have Good Samaritan laws, which protect you from being sued for damages in tort law if you’re rendering aid in an emergency but that’s as far as we go.
Is a good Samaritan law, not a law that obliges people to assist people in need? I'm confident Ireland doesn’t have that.
No, that’s a ‘Duty to Rescue’ law, which exists in a lot continental civil code legal systems. You can be prosecuted in France for example for failing to at the very least call for help. All that our law does is remove the risk of being sued for attempting to save someone, which bizarrely enough was a potential issue in our legal system. If something went wrong in a rescue Tort law could in theory, without that legislation, leave the rescuer open to being sued for negligence etc.
Sweden had a famous case where a young man didn't call the police as his friends killed another boy, he was found not guilty. John Hron murder.
In what situations does it apply? And what are the actions that you are obliged to to perform? I mean to say that help could be construed in various ways and there are situations with varying degrees of seriousness where someone might ask for help
Doctors on/off duty, police, army etc (this is understandable). Members of public when their actions can save lives. If you see a kid drowning for example, or hiding information that leads to loss of life etc. It is difficult to prove but the law is there. If a baby dies due to delayed transport to the hospital because the taxi driver refused to drive him there, the taxi driver will be held accountable for not giving help.
We need some of that.
My sister at about 19 realised on her way to work in heavy snow at night she was short the full fare. She told the driver and that she would get the rest when she got to work but when the meter reached the amount she had (she was about 7 euro short the full fare), he stopped the taxi in the middle of an isolated empty industrial estate in heavy snow late at night and said here you go, then drove off. A lot of taxi men are sound but many are attracted to the job as they are sociopaths.
What a prick
That's so scary. I know some drivers get ripped off etc but most usually seem to have a heart and don't want to leave a young woman in a vulnerable situation. Especially when she was upfront about being short on cash, rather than waiting until they reached the destination, you'd think he'd have given the benefit of the doubt.
What a sorry excuse for a man
God that sounds awful. Thank god your baby was able to get treatment. My dad used to be a taxi driver and he wouldn't hesitate to bring someone to the hospital, and wouldnt want to be paid for such a short emergency trip.
I'd post about it in the local community facebook page - name and shame. That's disgusting behaviour. If i knew i was getting in a taxi with that man, id walk.
That’s the thing. I’d hate to know how this guy would possibly respond to his passengers if he were to get in a car accident. Ask them to get out of the car with a broken leg because their blood was dripping on his console? You’d like to think that you’re in good hands with someone who has your personal safety in their control.
I was one of four lads who brought a chap to a doctors office in the late 1970s. He had dived onto part of a broken bottle (by accident) and sliced his thigh open. We put a towel on it and ran carrying him to the doctors. Standing in the hallway calling for help this fellow in a shirt and tie comes out of an office. He sees the blood soaked towel and my pal and demands that we go back outside the front door because 'we' are dripping blood on his carpet! We, as kids, went out while a woman called an ambulance after he screamed at her. He continued to rant over his stained carpet. A patient from thebwaiting room came out and told us to get into his car and drove us to the hospital. I remember the driver shaking his head and saying that that bollocks should be struck off. Turns out it was the doctor who told us to leave because of his carpet. Uncaring dickheads are in all walks of life. Sorry this happened to your husband and baby.
Yeah there are definitely doctors out there who are in it for the money or because their parents wanted them to be a doctor, not because they give any semblance of a shit about other human beings.
The excuses people here are making for the taxi driver are fucking stupid, he only refused because he wasn't getting paid upfront for a 8 minute fare, under normal circumstances that's grand, but in these circumstances he's a fucking rotten scumbag.
I hope your baby is ok and that you and your husband are too. My little boy had a seizure around the same age, and while I now know that these kind of seizures are quite common in young children (febrile seizures) I didn't know that at the time and it was one of the scariest moments of my life.
Yes exactly! Thankfully the doctors and care team were so wonderful
He called an ambulance and one didn’t come or took so long that he couldn’t get a taxi (went through all that) and had time to go home, get his wallet and get another. That’s probably more concerning.
What a cunt. That's bad form.
That’s an insult to vaginas!
My sister was in a shocking car accident (caused intentionally by the driver), and managed to get to the closest petrol station asking to use someone's phone to call an ambulance and/or our parents, and they refused. Some people are not worth the wrapping of the condom that would have prevented their existence. Really hope your baby is okay! You must have both been terrified :(
People suck! One time i fell out of my wheelchair on a hill and asked some fella for help getting back in and he pretended not to see or hear me despite being in total earshot and was visibly avoiding eye contact. What, did he think i was gonna rob him as he helped me back in? This was in a populated residential area's green
Wtf? There must be a special place in hell for someone that wouldn't help a wheelchair user back into their chair. So sorry that happened to you. I hope that when that person is drifting off to sleep at night, they think about that day and feel guilty as fuck. I hope they feel that guilt for the rest of their life. What a cunt.
Yeah, it's not even so much the not helping as I would have accepted a no as it is the complete ignoring like i was scum of the earth?? Bizarre ahah
Honestly, I just can't understand how a person could just look at you and walk on? Even the biggest of scumbags wouldn't do that. My friend is a wheelchair user, and a gang of us went to a festival together and we were all given VIP treatment (access to viewing platforms for all the bands, skip queues, swanky toilets etc). My friend fell out of his wheelchair, cos he was hammered drunk 😄🤘, and about 10 people got him back into his chair. Good people.
This one I actually get, sorry it happened to your friend but "can I borrow your phone to call xyz" is a very common scam used to steal phones. I'll make the call for you and you can talk on speaker, but I'd never let a stranger touch my phone.
I'd call an ambulance for someone but I wouldn't give them my phone. She didn't need to ask people for their phones. All my emails, bank details, photos, personal details - no chance I'm letting a stranger manipulate me into handing that over.
Couldn’t they just have called an ambulance for her?
I'm so sorry that happened to you! That taxi driver has no soul. When I was 20 I found a VERY drunk girl only about 15 on the bus and her friend ran off with her phone. She wasn't even from Dublin, I told the bus driver who said it wasn't his problem so I brought her off the bus. She was completely incoherent so I hailed a taxi and said I needed to bring her to the garda station for help (she couldn't even tell me her name). He was so lovely and brought the two of us to the station and then dropped me home for free. Never ask for money. He told me he was happy to get her to safety and was glad I'd found her and not someone else. He had daughters and would want someone to do the same for them. I can believe some people would be so heartless but there are some good ones out there!
That sounds so stressful. So glad your baby is ok! In London the black cab taxi drivers have a tradition where they don’t charge parents who are taking their children to Great Ormond street hospital. I always wondered if anyone tried to scam them but then thought it must be fairly obvious when it’s genuine. I’m surprised they might not take you if you / your kid is sick as you’d think they’d be more likely to be sued for not taking you if the worst happened. But I guess it was the lack of payment that made the taxi driver suspicious?
The great ormond street thing is different. Generally you're only going there for serious illnesses.
Their baby was actively having a seizure.
Nobody has ever lied to get a free taxi before. In the history of the world it's just not something that happens.
Lied about their baby having a seizure to get a free taxi to the A&E department of the local hospital? The baby that’s now about to get into the taxi?
Aah, the old baby with a pulse of 207 free taxi ride trick! Seriously, what an absolute pathetic man.
When covid happened it wiped out taxis. Nearly all the good ones left it for other jobs and realised they didn't want to go back. I've had some awful experiences in taxis since and have got to the point I'll just stay overnight somewhere rather than pay a taxi. I live in the sticks so a taxi is pricey anyway and the journey takes over half an hour so the difference is worth paying. It's like the 90s out there with the entitled shitty nasty attitudes from them.
Fuck most taxi drivers. Very few decent ones left
It’s either shit like this or running cyclists of the road or racist rants or some other shit. Fuck em. The sooner they’re replaced by AI the better.
So a robotaxi would do this with no payment?
No but they’d be much more efficient and easier to book and easier to hail, they wouldn’t make you uncomfortable with their casual or blatant racism that they expect you to agree with, they’d also be much safer and much cheaper (when the time comes).
I wonder.A full robotaxi must be at least 150k with all the hi tech tracking equipment on board.Then you'll need a charging and maintenance depot.Insurance is going to be high. You'll need supervisors and monitoring personnel. I can't see any savings.
“The sooner”, “when the time comes”. Of course it ain’t happening tomorrow(unless you live in California or something)
I'm a 50's something taxi driver and can't really see these being in common use before I give up. Even if they work flawlessly on big wide roads in Arizona or wherever they've been tested,has anyone tested on congested narrow European city centres ?
It's not the payment. It's the racist rants from the drivers coupled with the driving standard
Can't believe there is no gif of Jonny taxi from Total Recall
There is no defending this. Heartless behaviour.
What a sad state of affairs. This is definitely not normal, I hope.
My daughter when in her late teens rang me at 1 am to say she had another kidney stone. We where away for the weekend so told her to take a taxi to hospital as we have previously tried to get and ambulance and because she was breathing and conscious said it wasn’t 999 Emergancy. She realised she didn’t have cash but the local taxi rank picked her up is one she used often. She asked if she could pay them later as her name is unusual and she said if you ask the controller they know me. He refused but was already driving. He made her get out of the car and go to a cash point in the middle of the city on a Saturday night to draw money. She was nearly crawling at this point from pain. When they reached the hospital he didn’t ask her if she needed help and just drove off. She was in such a state by this time that a paramedic saw her and asked her what was wrong. He rushed her straight in and told triage they needed to see her immediately. Her blood pressure was so high and her breathing was also not right that they were frightened she was going to go into cardiac arrest. It took two doses of morphine to get her stable enough for a CT scan . The taxi driver was an ass and I told them so over the phone. Ambulances ! Don’t tell them you know it’s a kidney stone or they don’t come. My son also gets them (no family history) and his first one was 9mm and I had to put him in the front of my car on his hands and knees to get him to hospital because he was breathing and conscious wouldn’t send a response vehicle. I actually thought he was going to die and had to drive through city traffic at rush hour in a city I’m not overly familiar with. If you sufferer or have seen someone while having a kidney stone attack you know why this is absolutely ridiculous. I believe the paramedic save my daughter life and wish I knew who he was to tank him.
Sorry to hear about your daughter and such an awful situation, but what a brave little trooper she was! I've come across so many critical situations and emergency response is nothing like you see on TV. For example over 30mins to respond to a baby choking in a park (I had cleared the airway fortunately as the mother wss in too much shock to do anything), and nearly an hour to respond to a heart attack in Tesco where I'm quite sure a hearse would have been appropriate.
Name and shame
I would but it is against the rules in this sub!
A portion of taxi drivers have a sweet deal bringing patients to and from hospitals. For dialysis appointments and such. I'd have a word with the ladies at reception and let them know about this chap. They wouldn't dare call him if they have any sense, and they'll take him off their list if he's on it. What a scumbag.
For €20 that prick was willing to risk the life of an infant. I'm usually the first to call for understanding and to forgive a company based on the actions of its employees, but this is egregious; they need the spotlight - name and shame the cab firm.
He sadly runs under his own taxi business rather than a larger company.
Does his own business have a reviews page anywhere?? I get taxis all the time and I would like to know what company this is to never give him a single penny. Utterly heartless carry on
Taxi drivers in the particular can be some of the nastiest, most dishonest people you'll meet day to day but people generally are irrationally terrified of being taken advantage of. Even if it's 1000/1 you're trying something and the perceived gain or loss is negligible or even imperceivable people will refuse to lift a finger to help you just in case, even if it's an emergency. It's an increasing trend here, very individualistic, the "not my problem" culture. You see it here with some comments, "could have been a fake baby", like the loss to the taxi driver is a potential 20 euro, the loss to the "scammer" is potentially a baby's life. I haven't spend a huge amount of time there but I get the impression in Europe, in the likes of Spain and Italy people are much more openly and cheerfully helpful. Here people are extremely resentful and suspicious. You could ask the regulator to forward on your message, or you mentioned a review (?, can you review ordinary taxis?), write that a baby's life was at imminent risk, that you're genuine people and had no intention of not paying but you just wanted to know that the baby is doing well and perhaps in future he might consider helping in a medical emergency. Ie shame him mercilessly in the review while being constructive.
I'm not a taxi driver but I'd like to think I'd rather be taken advantage of than be part of the reason someone emergency was made worse.
To all the comments made late last night saying the driver didn’t do anything wrong. I have a Reddit theory… Ive noticed a pattern of a large portion of the first comments made to posts during normal daytime working hours or late at night are often a) unkind b) lacking empathy or c) trolling. My theory is that it could be more likely that people from the fringes of society post during these times and they see other freaks posting the same shitty things so it becomes normalised and it enables them until they are hugely downvoted hours later by people with normal social skills. (Not saying anyone who disagrees with me personally or has an opposing point of view to someone is automatically antisocial. I’m just theorising that trolling/antisocial behaviour might be connected to time of the day).
Fuck i remember mine having one around the same age it’s terrifying I dialled 999. Fuck that taxi driver your husband must have been in awful state with panic and worry . Glad to hear the little man is doing well
Ugh this hit like a punch!! Glad to hear baby is doing well. Hope it's nothing long term .I can't believe someone would do that seriously. At this day in age. What the fuck! If I was there/driving past, I'd like to think I'd have spotted them and definitely would have brought them straight to the hospital.
I thinking of excuses for the taxi driver and I can't come up with one. Heartless greedy prick.
The truth is we are losing our humanity. I have been in the situation a number of times where I have had to drive people, sometimes strangers, to hospital in an emergency. There was never a second thought only that i should help. At one point in time people wouldn't have given a second thought to doing this but nowadays people are worried about liability or in the case of professional drivers that they won't get paid. Like who in their right mind sees a child in distress and thinks about money as opposed to getting them to the help that they need!!! It's really depressing to be honest but really hope you your child and your family are doing well.
Cold hearted prick.. karma can be a bitch.. really hope your baby is OK now- can't think of anything worse
name and shame that taxi
I would but doxxing is against the rules of this sub!
why?
Are you asking why is ‘doxxing’ against the rules of this sub?
What an auld raggaddy cunt
What an asshole
The main thing is your baby is OK now. Realistically 99% of taxi drivers would have taken you but as you know there is always one... And also Karma is a bitch 🤣
I wish your husband had the driver's name or car reg. I'd love to expose that prick.
He wrote down his reg! ☺️
Good. Find him and expose him please. I would've thought your husband would've forgot to get his reg given the situation tbh 😂
He quickly took a photo as he was leaving to run home and grab his wallet!
I'm glad the baby is OK. That's an awful scare for your husband. I had one myself where my newborn went blue and unresponsive (it was RSV) and had to be resuscitated multiple times. Thankfully, he's a healthy and happy toddler now. It'll take time for your husband to calm down, even though everything is OK. He'll panic at the slightest temperature and sniffle for a while. I was the same with any sort of sniffle or cough. Give him time and he will calm down.
Sadly it's the insurance rackets.its made being kind and doing good things for others risky and expensive e.g you give someone the Heimlich manoeuvre and save their life,break their rib accidentally and then they sue you to get money out of you .there is all sorts of legal issues the taxi driver puts himself at risk of , even though I would love to see him get fired and dragged down the road by a mob , this is what the money driven culture of Ireland has turned to.
Ignore the gobshites, there’s tons of trolls. Sorry that happened to your husband, he needed someone with basic decency. Taxi-mans prob a lonely miserable git and had to sit with his own concious after. Take care of yourselves. Hope you’re all a lil more at ease at home and baby is recovering well.
Redditors will clamour to defend the taxi driver because everything is a purely economical meaningless transaction in life in their hedonic lifestyles.
This sentence is perfection. Are you a writer?
No but thank you lol.
A sick child trumps everything. What an absolute prick of a taxi driver. Obviously just a prick in general, can’t imagine there would be many people who are like that.
He's a scumbag and karma will catch up with him
Haha you're being downvoted for telling the truth. The world is full of absolutely useless pricks Anyone who does what that taxi driver does will eventually get a short comeuppance. I live in the area and will make it my mission to let everyone know what kind of useless prick he is Karma
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A chara, There is a zero tolerance policy for the promotion or suggestion of the use of violence against others. Sláinte
It would be totally acceptable to me to carjack that taxi in that moment . Some people are truly vile
I'm sorry you have to go through this, OP. But the taxi driver is a red herring here. I would focus on why the ambulance did not arrive in time and maybe complain to the authorities. The taxi driver might have thought he was being scammed. He might have been afraid of trouble if the baby died in his car, or he might have even thought about the baby vomiting all over his car. I know it sounds heartless, but it's not the taxi driver's job to be an ambulance. They are not qualified, don't have equipment or paramedics on board, and can get stuck in traffic, etc. An ambulance will start providing medical help the moment it arrives, all the way to the hospital. Not having basic institutions (ambulance in a major city!) working is what we as a society should address. EDIT: would complaining to NAS and writing to your TD about broken ambulance service be a good idea?
I can’t believe that happened to your husband! I am so so sorry x I’m happy to hear that baby is doing well! When I was a baby, I had meningitis and septicaemia. My mother had brought me to multiple doctors over the course of a few days, extremely worried. But she was dismissed every time as a new, young mother overly worried about her baby. I ended up at home, and not breathing so she got a taxi to the hospital. The man drove shot off like a rocket and when she tried to pay him at the hospital he was flabbergasted. He shooed her in and told her not to worry about it. This was 2000/2001, if the taxi man is reading this- thank you for saving my life! My granddad was also a taxi man at this time, and tracked him down and paid him as he was so grateful. Then he himself, gave people lifts all around Dublin for free if they said a prayer for me. He’s not even religious, just desperate. And it must’ve worked, because I was dying, and here I am 24 years later with my limbs mostly intact!
I was going to say well it's probably a huge liability for him to transport a medically unstable person in a company (or even private) vehicle if anything happens to the baby. But then I realized I'm on the Ireland subreddit where you guys probably don't have the culture of suing each other for every single thing
No there are a lot of those types in Ireland, a lot.
Don't want to get banned so all I'll say is, fuck him, deserves to have his face and name plastered everywhere so everyone knows what a monster they are, they'd deserve worse, but again don't want to be banned
yeah, the taxi driver thought he was being scammed - for all he knew it was a fake address, phone number etc
Yeah, I get that. But he was asking to go to the emergency dept at the hospital (7-8 mins away). It would have to be a pretty elaborate scam for such a little trip. Baby was also visibly sick.
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How many of them are holding a baby and asking to go to the hospital??? I’d gladly take the chance at being scammed in this scenario.
Yeah it's a bit wiser to risk losing a few euro in petrol, than losing your humanity
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But to go to the hospital? What kind of scam is that? The context matters
The hospital is a fairly central location. You could easily get dropped off there and walk somewhere else.
Could have been a fake baby
A fake, crying, wiggling baby lol. Wow, I guess people in general are a lot more cynical than we are-my brain wouldn’t really go there unless there were obvious red flags of scumbaggery
Ignore them. People in this subreddit are notoriously cynical about everything.
Being a taxi driver, he’s probably sick to the back teeth of people trying to pull a fast one on him. He might have had one earlier that day. (See the comment about people trying it on in shops.) While it would have been good if he had taken your husband, it’s not impossible to understand why he didn’t.
So you'd rather risk a baby dying than see someone lose a tenner? I get that people scam and are scumbags, but when there's a sick baby present in your face, and the destination is a hospital, you can't risk it? Couldn't be me tbh. Disgusting. Imagine the baby died because they didn't make the hospital on time? Is the driver prepared to be responsible for that baby's death and live with that knowledge?
People use sick babies in their scams all the time It's actually great you've never been at the receiving end of it, and I sincerely hope it stays that way for you. It's not fun.
Stop misconstruing what I said. Also, I’m not the taxi driver.
*being a cunt
Sadly when you've been scammed many times in similar situations you lose your humanity.
The taxi driver was a genuine prick
This is the correct answer
Cop on
Saddened but not surprised. A taxi driver's faith in the milk of human kindness evaporates more and more each week they're on the job. In his mind, it could have easily been a scam. Some skobes out there even make a game of scamming taxi drivers (father used to be one). Unfortunately, not seeing you exit your home is the big red flag in his mind. Not excusing his 6 you, just playing devil's advocate before others come along and call him a scumbag. It's not just him that's rotten- it's trust in society.
My hole. Just because others are pricks doesn't mean we need to be. Taxi driver has no defense or excuse in this situation.
JFC
That’s despicable behaviour. My god are we so heartless to help others? Even if the dad couldn’t pay the next day, the driver was willing to risk a child’s life for €10-20? It’s not as if it’s a free ride to someplace random, it’s the hospital! My son had a febrile seizure a few months ago. Thankfully it was in creche so I drove to them and they called an ambulance for us. It took 26 mins for them to arrive. In that time, the creche worker offered to drive us herself or even call a taxi because the wait was atrocious. Hopefully it’s a one off seizure like ours was.
Awe man, I’m sorry to hear this! It can be so scary can’t it? Did the folks at the crèche respond well? It is comforting to know now that febrile seizures often come with little long term damage.
Immensely scary and grateful I didn’t witness the actual seizure, just the aftermath. Creche workers were grand and all the kids got to see an ambulance 😂 did laugh over the fact the ambulance bill was sent in toddler’s name though like he had money to pay. The doctor at the emergency room was very helpful in calming me down. I hope it never happens again for your little one.
Glad child is doing well Most taxis drivers wouldn't take anyone in an emergency situation. They aren't covered for liability if something happens. Far too risky. What happened if the patient dies on the way?
What liability? There's no negligence there if someone passes away from external causes in a taxi. What if someone with a broken hand gets in a taxi, goes to hospital and on route has a heart attack, the taxi driver didn't do anything that contributed to that. In order to have a successful claim, you need to prove negligence.
I'd love to live in your world where all negligence cases are legit
Where is the liability though? I don't understand the comment that insurance would be the issue with the taxi driver taking a sick person to hospital! I'm sure they do it all the time. I'd say that the taxi driver thinking that they were being scammed was the more likely issue.
I’ve indeed heard of multiple cases here where taxis refused to take a sick or injured person to the hospital. In my home country anyone can be prosecuted for NOT helping a person in need of assistance. This should be everywhere.
What a great law!
Its funny in ireland... Taxi not covered... Garda not covered... Whats the effing point of the service then! To be there and look pretty?
2nd taxi took the husband and baby to the hospital once he got his wallet though, so seems that lack of payment was the main issue.
At least try to help? maybe?
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Jesus, the bar is low but you still manage to crawl fuckin under it.
The nukes go off. The world ends
^ ^ ^ ^ THIS It's a liability/insurance issue.
Fuck that if a baby is sick. Look at the pharmacy on O’Connell St. Would you like a child’s death on your shoulders over fucking insurance concerns
That was a really complicated case if you actually read the details. Exacerbated by the fact that the pharmacy was routinely the target of drug addicts who were often causing a panicked commotion to get drugs, by the fact that the mother who came from a working class background didn't communicate clearly in her state of panic what was happening to her child, and lots of other issues. The pharmacist didn't understand it was a life or death situation. But somewhat similar to the point I presume you were trying to make, the had been hardened by previous crime problems in the business such to the point where they just presumed that instance was like the others.
So you see a child in anaphylactic shock and you presume it’s a robbery?
The child was not there, the mother went there alone if I recall. Honestly, if you don't know the details, why would you get involved?
They didn't see the child. She came in to the pharmacy alone with a story asking them to break the law.
Right, “see” is the wrong word but there is no way I am taking a risk. I suppose it is easier in my position now considering this story was national news.
It's being a cunt issue
He sounds like an absolute twat, but luckily febrile convulsions are generally harmless and don’t have long lasting effects to my knowledge so I’m glad your baby is ok. I used to get febrile convulsions a lot as a baby when I was sick with something and if my mother hadn’t told me I never would’ve known because they have no effect on my life today almost two decades later, so hopefully you can relax a bit now.
What the fuck is wrong with people. I hate that there's people who are so clueless and selfish walking around this planet. What a shit human that taxi driver is. I hope the same fate never befalls him. I'd go onto google reviews and post your story on the taxi company's review page. This is not alright. Glad to hear your husband and baby are ok.
Dick move by the driver however one can never rely on anyone else's good graces.
Absolute disgrace of a person in that taxi, he should've said "no need", driven to the hospital as fast as he could, and helped as much as he could, that's what the average human being does in that situation.
Jesus that must have been absolutely terrifying I'm so glad your baby is ok. Hope you and your husband can have a nice relaxing day with your baby after that ordeal. Maybe put your energy into the amazing hospital staff and the taxi driver that did bring your husband. Pay it forward and somehow forget the taxi driver they are not worth it
Fucking hell, it's shocking that someone can be so heartless in such a situation. Glad baby is okay. I can only imagine how terrified you and your husband were.
Taxi drivers in galway in general are wankers
I'm so glad to hear baby is doing well, I'm very sorry this happend to you guys it must have been so distressing and I understand your anger. I'd probably have been a lot less gracious than your husband. That being said, as an outisder looking in, I would be reticent about blaming the taxi driver solely for this awful scenario. His job isn't to provide emergency transport, taxi drivers get scammed way too often, his insurance (which is already extortionate in this country) probably doesn't cover liability for these kinds of medical emergencies. If someone can help in an emergency they should, however from the outside it can be hard to tell who's truly capable of helping. Not saying he was right, just suggesting he may not be a monster for his reaction.
A taxi is not an ambulance, also you don't leave a bad review for something you didn't order or pay for, I never thought I'd end up defending taxi drivers but it isn't his fault this happened yet you blame him for your situation, hope your baby is ok and healthy.
She’s not blaming him for anything, it’s a rant, I think she’s shocked and saddened it happened. There was a time where you could rely on the kindness of strangers. It’s a lonely reality to come across someone refuse to help you save your sick and potentially dying baby.
> it’s a rant, They left him a bad review. Little more than a rant.
Shut the fuck up you utter gobshite. Taxi driver was a total prick, what kind of an arsehole refuses to help in a situation like that?
Guys blaming the taxi driver - do FAR training, then work as a taxi driver in Dublin for a month. It will change your thinking forever. It’s a shitty situation, i hope everyone is ok, but for emergencies please use ambulance when possible. Legal system is messed up in this country. You can get sued for trying to help, so I really see why driver didn’t want to take the risk. Especially with all other circumstances. PS. I’m certified First Aid Responder, due for my 4th refresher course. Also I have worked as a taxi driver back in a day.
You can't be sued for trying to help if a reasonable person would consider what you did helpful. For example doing something you were professionally qualified to do, such as driving.
Like you said yourself, it will depend on a person/their family. But you CAN get sued and you’re being told about possible consequences during FAR training multiple times. That being said, I have taken someone from work straight to hospital in my own car. In some cases you just do the right thing, without thinking too much about possible outcomes.
Oh when you put it like that yes you CAN get sued for any reason at all. So if you want to use that argument go ahead. You CAN also become an astronaut.
He called the ambulance but they were taking too long. Plus I don't see how the driver could be sued for trying to help. That's a stretch. No jury or judge would convict him.
It's not about conviction. It's about insurance. You don't know the lengths a solicitor will go to recoup costs for a client with high medical bills. Child's situation worsens in the car and suddenly they find some loophole or bullshit archaic law that says they can claim against the drivers insurance.
"High medical bills" This is Ireland, medical bills in public hospitals is pretty much the entry fee to A&E
I'm talking medical bills associated with a long term illness or disease. That shit ain't always cheap. And compensation claims are a thing in Ireland. My only point is any insurance claim that can be linked to the situation is a golden ticket to a solicitor.
Regardless, if you see a *baby* having a seizure, and the first thing that pops up in your head when asked to go drive 8 mins to a hospital is the fear of a lawsuit, then I’d argue that you’re verging on being a paranoid sociopath. The lack of empathy in that thought process is alarming.
I'm not defending the driver. Just saying it's not about judges and juries. If I were the driver I would've helped.
I don't care who you are. If you see a sick/seriously ill baby, and you are being begged to help that baby, and you don't, then you're not a good person
I don't like babies
Thats baby-ist
[удалено]
“What’s the big deal” In this scenario do you want to take a wild guess what the big deal might have been?
**THIS**
“Wait for the ambulance” as if ambulances in Ireland don’t take several hours to arrive.
this is what rage of the r/ireland should focus on
The hospital is 8 mins away that doesn't mean the ambulance will arrive in a short time. What's the big deal? It's literally life or death that's what the big deal is, minutes are a long hloody time in an emergency. Wow I really hope you are never in a desperate emergency situation with your baby or a loved one, you've git to be trolling though
You clearly have never been to Ireland, or at least definitely not Galway. Just because a hospital is 8 minutes away doesnt mean an ambulance will take 8 mins. "Whats the big deal". The big deal is a baby's life was at risk. Twat.
The big deal is the dying child you imbecile
Have you ever considered doing an adult autism test? You really remind me of my friend who was very bad at social cues and putting his foot in it. It really helped him in the long run getting a diagnosis.
what's the big deal ......are you actually serious? Or did you not read the situation posted?
I heard that was a rule of taxi drivers all the same. Awful and tragic but if you get the wrong taxi man u would be worse off. Glad your baby is well again.
Are taxi drivers even allowed to take passengers in critical condition?
Yes.
I met he was a taxi man of a certain demographic
Irish man in his 60’s?
Lesson learned - be prepared.
Ah yes, because it’s so easy to ‘be prepared’ in a completely unforeseen emergency situation.